soccer soccer soccer

[USSoccer]

Dier, Lamele and Dembele were lucky to be on the field. 9 yellows to Spurs.

[soccer10k]

Hahahaha [expletive] right off, Tottenham. Reduced to acting like [expletive] hacks.

 

It was pure frustration. It's a long season and they could see their title hopes fading against a major rival.

[soccer10k]

O when the spurs

[expletive] the bed

o when the spur-urrs [expletive] the bedddd

 

I wouldn't put it that way. They drew on he road against a very talented team that was clearly motivated to not lose. Leicester was going to win the title against Everton next week.

[wvcbxl]

Live pics from pubs in Leicester on my TV now. :D

[USSoccer]

Hahahaha [expletive] right off, Tottenham. Reduced to acting like [expletive] hacks.

 

It was pure frustration. It's a long season and they could see their title hopes fading against a major rival.

 

Sure, I get that, but it that's Diego Costa stamping on Cesc like Lamela did or assaulting Ivanovic like Dier did people would be braying for significant bans. Clattenburg let it get way, way out of hand, especially in stoppage time. Both guys should have been tossed.

[USSoccer]

[soccer10k]

Hahahaha [expletive] right off, Tottenham. Reduced to acting like [expletive] hacks.

 

It was pure frustration. It's a long season and they could see their title hopes fading against a major rival.

 

Sure, I get that, but it that's Diego Costa stamping on Cesc like Lamela did or assaulting Ivanovic like Dier did people would be braying for significant bans. Clattenburg let it get way, way out of hand, especially in stoppage time. Both guys should have been tossed.

 

Yeah, Clattenburg set the tone early when he didn't card Rose or. Chelsea player a few minutes later. He motioned after the Chelsea one that it was even.

[apete6]

Just imagine sitting in a pub in Leicester right now ...

 

[tweet]

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[shnsajax]

3 years ago this happened in the playoff.

 

[bbvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LFQkqLfY_5k[/bbvideo]

[wolf stansson]

Does anyone think Leicester will finish in the top 7 next year? I really, really don't. That doesn't downplay this accomplishment. I just still don't believe in them, as stupid as that sounds. The PL is supposed to be the best, or one of the best leagues in the world. Bayern and/or Barca would roll them so hard. Like 4-1, 5-1.

[USSoccer]

Does anyone think Leicester will finish in the top 7 next year? I really, really don't. That doesn't downplay this accomplishment. I just still don't believe in them, as stupid as that sounds. The PL is supposed to be the best, or one of the best leagues in the world. Bayern and/or Barca would roll them so hard. Like 4-1, 5-1.

 

I can see them finishing top-6, sure. CL play is 6 games, minimum. That's not a giant ask. They might punt on the CapOne Cup or FA Cup, but I don't see I giant strain on them in terms of scheduling.

 

It'll come down to whether or not they can hold on to Vardy, Mahrez and especially Kante in the summer. They still have Gokhan Inler who never plays but is good depth, Matty James didn't play a minute this year and he was a starter last year and Demarai Gray is going to be really good...they'll need to smartly add depth.

 

I don't think they'll repeat as champions or anything, and if one of their big 3 leave then all bets are off, but I don't think they'll be in a relegation scrap or anything. I guess it depends on whether or not United, Chelsea and Liverpool make the right moves to improve this summer.

[soccer10k]

Does anyone think Leicester will finish in the top 7 next year? I really, really don't. That doesn't downplay this accomplishment. I just still don't believe in them, as stupid as that sounds. The PL is supposed to be the best, or one of the best leagues in the world. Bayern and/or Barca would roll them so hard. Like 4-1, 5-1.

 

I'm in the same boat. I think they'll finish in the 6-10 range or so.

 

They're 14-2 in games decided by 1 goal this year. That's not going to happen next year. Between losses and ties, you can probably take off 10-15 points.

They got 11 penalties this year, which is only the eighth time since 2002-03 that a team has taken more double digit PKs in a season. In the year before and year after each of those seasons, those teams averaged 5.3 penalties per season. So you can take off a couple points for that also (there will be some overlap with the above stat).

This year was the weakest the EPL has been at the top. City will be better next year with Pep coming in. Chelsea will be better with Conte. Liverpool will probably be better in their second year under Klopp. And you've still got Spurs, Arsenal and ManU.

I know they'll have more money coming in between the UCL and the EPL TV money but if the big clubs want somebody like Mahrez or Kante, they'll be gone. So how many of their players they keep will be a major factor as well.

 

I think they'll finish in the 55-60 point range which will put them between 6th and 9th in the table.

[USSoccer]

Oh god its great when Pep Guardiola fails.

[shnsajax]

Oh god its great when Pep Guardiola fails.

 

Except I sort of feel like the CL Finals could be boring as hell with Athletico in it. Hopefully it won't be.

[USSoccer]

Oh god its great when Pep Guardiola fails.

 

Except I sort of feel like the CL Finals could be boring as hell with Athletico in it. Hopefully it won't be.

 

Better than listening to everyone trip over themselves to anoint him the greatest manager in the history of ever when he's never won anything difficult without his Barca core making his philosophy actually work.

[shnsajax]

Does anyone think Leicester will finish in the top 7 next year? I really, really don't. That doesn't downplay this accomplishment. I just still don't believe in them, as stupid as that sounds. The PL is supposed to be the best, or one of the best leagues in the world. Bayern and/or Barca would roll them so hard. Like 4-1, 5-1.

 

I don't think City will be nearly as bad as they have been at times next season and same for Chelsea. ManU and Arsenal aren't exactly inspiring. The gap between the top 5 and the rest of the league appears to be gone maybe for good. The EPL is printing money at an insane rate right now, and Leicester could see a 150lb bump for winning it this year. I won't be surprised to see Southampton, West Ham, and Everton all improve next season along with the usual suspects.

[soccer10k]

Oh god its great when Pep Guardiola fails.

 

Except I sort of feel like the CL Finals could be boring as hell with Athletico in it. Hopefully it won't be.

 

Man City better advance tomorrow. I have no desire to watch an all Spanish final again.

[biittner77]

I was watching around the horn yesterday and they commented on whether Leicester winning was the best sports story of all time. Since none of the panel had ever heard of Leicester before last week, they struggled to make a comparison in US sports. Renowned idiot Bill Plaschke compared it to the Toledo Mudhens being promoted to the MLB then winning the world series. This got me thinking, if there was a playoff, would Leicester win?

 

Lets say the top 4 make this fictional playoff and are seeded 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3. How does it play out?

 

I'm not asking this to hate on Leicester. It is a great story and they have a lot of likeable players. It's like a real life version of the movie Dodgeball.

[USSoccer]

Leicester lost 3 games all year. Two of them to Arsenal and one of those losses was thanks to a questionable sending off and last second goal.

 

They took 4 points off Spurs and Man City. 2 off Man United. 4 off West Ham.

 

They'd fare just fine in a playoff unless they had to play Arsenal.

[wolf stansson]

There's an entire, gigantic global economy rigging the system so that only a dozen clubs in world football matter. It's not just a minor league club beating the Yankees. It's not a cinderella story. It's an unbelievable defiance of overwhelming market forces that doesn't make any sense at all.

[shnsajax]

There's an entire, gigantic global economy rigging the system so that only a dozen clubs in world football matter. It's not just a minor league club beating the Yankees. It's not a cinderella story. It's an unbelievable defiance of overwhelming market forces that doesn't make any sense at all.

 

This is where I struggle to find any comparison of what they did.

[USSoccer]

Something like Boise State making it into the CFB playoff and winning.

[wolf stansson]

Something like Boise State making it into the CFB playoff and winning.

Not even close for me. That's a series of one-off's after 12 games against mediocre opponents. Leicester negates sample size arguments. Yes, they got relative good fortune based on outcomes in close games and goal differential, but they won the league with thoroughly dominant performances, if not a dominant style. Their execution of their game plan was flawless and they imposed it on every opponent not named Arsenal. The confluence of injuries, bad managerial situations at the big clubs, luck and timing that had to go right for this team to exist was essentially impossible to expect.

 

 

So many things happened that Leicester didn't even choose. Ranieri wasn't their first choice for example. It's just crazy. Whoever their top scouting guy is going to be richer than hell when whichever big club gets him paid finally pries him loose. It's not going to work again though. Mahrez and Vardy are unicorns.

[sneakypower]

http://www.espnfc.us/blog/five-aside/77/post/2863760/the-numbers-behind-leicester-city-premier-league-title

 

[...] roughly $500 million less than Manchester City spent to assemble its team

Jesus.

[USSoccer]

http://www.espnfc.us/blog/five-aside/77/post/2863760/the-numbers-behind-leicester-city-premier-league-title

 

[...] roughly $500 million less than Manchester City spent to assemble its team

Jesus.

 

Manchester United paid more for players the past 3 years than LCFC have in their entire history, according to the Guardian.